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What can you say about Maggie Thatcher? Simply put she was the evil that spawned Reagan-ism. Her apparent success reforming England from a country that made things and took care of its people into the country that did neither, emboldened the rich in the US to also push for 'supply side' economics. 'Supply side' is the 'down is really up' notion that if 'unfettered by the tyranny of government' the rich will take care of everything. We don't need 'demand' from workers making a good living, we're the 'creators' of supply, and therefore wealth. (our wealth, by taking yours)

Even Jimmy Carter fell under the thrall of the Iron Lady and pushed deregulation of trucking and airlines. When Ronald Reagan came to power he simply stopped enforcing laws intended to rein in corporations, in effect he de-criminalized the behavior of the robber barons that have been taking the country apart ever since. London and New York became world banking centers and on paper they've done marvelous things. If you call capturing all the middle class wealth for themselves a marvelous thing, Mitt Romney thinks it's 'marvelous'.

Thatcher did more damage to England's industrial base than Hitler's bombers ever could, and it has never recovered. Reagan and his successors have done the same here. Just in the US, the last 30 years have seen 250,000 factories closed. Thatcher went on take huge 'speaking fees' after being forced from office as England sank beneath the waves. You see she was still very popular with those she took from just being rich to super rich status. Just as Bill Clinton would receive hundreds of millions in 'speaking fees' ten years later for the same reasons. In the old days we called those bribes. Reagan actually raised a stink by taking two million in 'speaking fees' from the Japanese immediately after leaving office, how times have changed. Of course his 'dementia' had to suddenly become acute for him to stay out of prison from Iran-Contra, so the 'speaking fees' dried up.

The Germans stayed with a progressive system and have flourished. If they start adopting the austerity that bankers are pushing now they may find themselves being Thatcherized as well. You see these are the same bankers doing the same thing in Europe that they did in the UK and the US. Sharks have to keep swimming and eating. They don't build things, it's not their nature. www.prairie2.com twitter @BruceEnberg